
The book’s climax creates the perfect contradiction in Tessa’s perceived emotions and reveals what she feels about the boy who hurt her the most. From the hot-cold attitude of Hardin towards Tessa to the hate-love feeling of Tessa towards Hardin, the book perfectly creates a contradiction in itself that leads to an intense romantic-toxic relationship between both characters. ‘After’ creates an oxymoronic situation on emotionality because Tessa loves the one person she hates. With a different perspective from most romance novels written from a foreign observer’s point of view, Anna Todd’s book embraces the idea of creating a romance piece based on a single character’s ideologies, everyday living, interaction with others, emotions, and point of view.



Having had enough, Tessa tries to cut it all off but finds herself doing the exact opposite. Though Tessa senses danger ahead in their relationship, she keeps making terrible choices and coming back even after Hardin hurts and humiliates her. Their hate-romance relationship blossoms, and each passing moment only draws them together. Hardin’s character makes it difficult for Tessa to admit to having strong affection towards him as he keeps hurting her, making her feel unwanted.

Tessa finds herself falling for Hardin and wanting to explore more about the world of romance with him, but a haunted childhood and an estranged father make Hardin unreachable and cold. For Tessa, meeting Hardin, a cold, bratty, emotionally broken yet mysterious boy, is an experience she never forgets. The novel projects the life of Tessa, an eighteen-year-old girl who has no clue about the world of romance, sex, and college.
